Windows Update problem with KB5101650 and KB5120249

Steve E 5

Both these recent Windows Updates are not working properly for me. They install without problem, but after approx 6 minutes, the whole system freezes, inc mouse, keyboard etc. Only option is to shut down at the power. On restart it does the same thing again - freezes after 6 minutes.

Only option is to Pause updates, uninstall the relevant update, reboot and then everything's ok again.

I am running Windows 10 Home. KB5101650 was installed on 18 July 2026 and today I tried to run windows update again and it pulled down KB5120249 instead - both causing the same problem above.

No recent hardware changes in the last 12 months, so any help would be appreciated. Guessing others have encountered similar problems?

Thanks.

Patrick Magnan 0 Reputation points

2026-08-17T23:50:30.1666667+00:00

sameting for me exact same !! after install this update restart and the pc freeze after 4-6 minutes all time
Lucas Hainzenreder Longhi 0 Reputation points

2026-08-27T20:13:40.3433333+00:00

I can confirm a very similar issue with KB5120249.

My PC is a Dell Inspiron 3647 with an Intel Core i5-4460S and Intel HD Graphics 4600.

The system was freezing completely: the screen remained frozen, mouse and keyboard stopped responding (including Caps Lock), and remote access was also lost. The only way to recover was a forced shutdown.

I performed a clean installation of Windows 10 and did not install any updates. The computer then remained stable for over 24 hours.

After installing the Windows updates, the freezing returned. I checked the update installation history and identified KB5120249 as the main suspect.

After uninstalling KB5120249, the computer has remained stable again so far.

This strongly suggests that KB5120249 may be causing compatibility or stability issues on some older hardware.
Gerald Kr 0 Reputation points

2026-09-05T20:13:15.1666667+00:00

Same to me!!!
I learned that the KB5120249 was from 11th of August 2026. And till today, the 5th of September 2026 there is still no correction available from Microsoft? Since when is it well known that this update makes problems? Why was the update not removed from rollout from then on?
I tried to uninstall the update, but ran during this action again into the 5 minutes freeze problem. So I don't know the status of my PC. Is the update still installed, is it uninstalled, is it partly in- or uninstalled?
Together with the AI it lasted some hours (!!!!!) and it is still not solved. Thank you Microsoft!

9 answers

Lester Bernard Reyes 84,725 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-31T05:03:24.0166667+00:00

You are always welcome, and I hope it will be all good.
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Lester Bernard Reyes 84,725 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-30T05:10:05.5233333+00:00

Hi, thank you for that information. What I can highly suggest is to post the issue on the Feedback Hub so that developers will also be aware of this problem, and hopefully the fix will be applied as soon as possible.

To send Feedback: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/send-feedback-to-microsoft-with-the-feedback-hub-app-f59187f8-8739-22d6-ba93-f66612949332
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Steve E 5 Reputation points

2026-08-30T10:59:33.5933333+00:00

Thanks Bernard, I'll do that now.
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Lester Bernard Reyes 84,725 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-24T16:29:48.85+00:00

Hi, thank you for replying. Since the issue persists, I suggest contacting a local technician to physically check the device for any hardware-related issues.
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Lester Bernard Reyes 84,725 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-18T01:11:55.0433333+00:00

Sure, thanks, and I hope it will be all good.
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Steve E 5 Reputation points

2026-08-23T17:07:36.33+00:00

Hi again. Tried this today but it didn't resolve the problem. The in-place upgrade worked, but it pulled down the offending update - KB5120249 as the final update download. PC then froze after approx 5 mins. Something must happen 5 mins after the Windows Desktop appears. I don't have a TPM installed, as PC is too old for that, although Win 10 shouldn't need that anyway. BIOS is set to secure boot and I can't think of any other reason why it crashes.

There's only just enough time to uninstall the update before it crashes too.

Is there a way to download updates manually, so this one can be ignored?
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Lester Bernard Reyes 84,725 Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-08-17T05:58:46.5633333+00:00
Hi, thank you for patiently waiting. After checking and analyzing the event logs, I found multiple NTFS (Disk) errors on the PC. This could indicate that the particular KB update is conflicting with the file system, or that there may be an underlying file system error.

In this case, I suggest doing an in-place upgrade, which will upgrade the device to the latest version and repair all issues without deleting any files.

Note: Before doing this, make sure to create a restore point: https://support.microsoft.com/en-hk/help/4027538/windows-create-a-system-restore-point
1. Go to this link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
2. Select Download Now, and select Run. You need to be an administrator to run this tool.
3. On the License terms page, if you accept the license terms, select Accept.
4. On the What do you want to do? page, select Upgrade this PC now, and then select Next.
5. After downloading and installing, it should fix the issue.
Reference: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
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Steve E 5 Reputation points

2026-08-17T17:36:03.14+00:00

Hi again,

Thanks for your suggestions. I will try that when I have some time later in the week. I've got a cloned back up of the drive, which I'll do before this too, in case something goes wrong.

Regards,

Steve.

Steve E 5 Reputation points

2026-08-29T08:51:23.35+00:00

To get around this problem for now, I've paused Windows Updates with a registry tweak (HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings), so nothing will update now until 2046. I changed the year in PauseFeatureUpdateEndTime, PauseQualityUpdatesEndTime and PauseUpdatesExpiryTime to 2046. I'm using the MS Windows Catalog (https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/home.aspx) to download updates manually, so I can monitor any future updates. I type this into the search box within the catalog website: windows 10 22H2 x64 2026-08. With the last two digits being the month. Aside from the KBs mentioned here, all other updates have installed ok with no after effects noted, so we'll see what happens with the Sep 2026 updates when they're published and I'll post the results here.

Interestingly, I have an old Laptop running Windows 10 Pro 32-Bit and that has updated fine without any issues.

A friend of mine has Windows 10 Home 64-Bit and he is having the same problem with a total freeze after approx 5 minutes. We all have different PC manufacturers and different graphics cards etc. I suppose the big question is, are Microsoft aware of this as it seems to be quite an extensive problem.
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